The Watermelon Woman, 20 Years Later: An Interview With Local Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye

In what Philadelphia’s The City Paper described as “fast and loose, breathless and beautiful,” local filmmaker Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman will be screened on Sunday afternoon at the Castro Theatre, 20 years after it first premiered in the same theater. The film, which according to The City Paper includes the “the hottest dyke sex scene ever recorded on celluloid,” will help to usher in the final week of the 59th San Francisco Film Festival.

We caught up with director Cheryl Dunye, who is an assistant professor at San Francisco State University, to talk about her film and about her perception of the Castro since The Watermelon Woman first premiered two decades ago.

Set in Philadelphia, The Watermelon Woman is the
story of Cheryl, a twenty-something black lesbian who is struggling to
make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful yet elusive 1930s
black film actress popularly known as “the watermelon woman.” While
uncovering the meaning of Fae Richards’ life, Cheryl experiences a total
upheaval in her own personal life. In what is ultimately a series of
parallels between “the watermelon woman” and Cheryl, the film captures
the protagonist’s search for identify, community, and love.

According
to Dunye, who played Cheryl in the 1996 film, much about the character
in the film is autobiographical. The historical references to Fae
Richards, however, are fictional. “The watermelon woman came from the
real lack of any information about the lesbian and film history of
African American women. Since it wasn’t happening, I invented it,” said
Dunye.

Dunye fondly remembers the premier of her film in 1996 at
the Castro Theatre. “They mixed up the reels,” she said. “There were 20
minutes in the middle where it just stopped.” According to Dunye, while
everything was being set in place, people left their seats and began to
partake in the refreshments that were meant for the reception following
the screening. “That shouldn’t happen on Sunday,” Dunye laughed.

The Watermelon Woman first premiered in the Castro Theatre in 1996.

Having come from Philadelphia and having seen Tongues Untied, a film by the godfather of black gay filmmaking Marlon Riggs, Dunye said that it was interesting for her to walk down the streets of
the Castro. “The Castro that I briefly experienced 20 years ago was very
much like what he described in his film, and sad to say, it really
hasn’t changed for folks of colors,” said Dunye.

“It’s
strongly a place where white gay men exist and live and carved out and
made viable and all of those wonderful things that happen with
communities and space, but it’s definitely one where the impact of
cultural diversity within the queer community hasn’t really stuck,” said
Dunye. “I’m not saying that’s a negative thing or a positive thing,
that’s just how it is.”

Riggs’ work had an impact on
Dunye. According to her, Riggs’ films depict his experiences and the
culture of the early ‘90s and of being a black gay man in that
community. “It’s different for black lesbians,” said Dunye. “It is a
space where a part of your identity can feel reclaimed, and I think
that’s what The Watermelon Woman really talks about, this reclamation of the pluralities that we hold in our identity.”

Dunye, who is heavily involved with Radar’s Queering the Castro and is a member of the San Francisco Pride
board of directors, is particularly excited about what the twentieth
anniversary screening of her film will mean, both to the LGBTQ community
and the film community. “This film is not just a queer film, a black
film, an indie film,” said Dunye. “This is an important piece of
cinema.”

Twenty years ago, Dunye described her film as
“simple.” Today, she recognizes the film's significance and hopes that it
will one day be more accessible to viewers, especially within the trans
community of color. “I really do hope that 10 years from now, 20 years
from now, people have the ability to see it in more and more
communities, because everybody doesn’t get to a film festival.”

That
being said, Dunye is a fan of the San Francisco International Film
Festival. “The festival is definitely a wonderful thing,” she said. “But
it’s not just the film festival, it’s about education, which is about
filmmakers, which is about community and culture. I think this last week
of the festival and my film being sort of on that day that rounds it
out, I hope that it really inspires people to go see more projects that
they wouldn’t be able to see at regular theaters or regular festivals,
you know, check out community stuff.”

As for screening The Watermelon Woman
at the same theater for which the film premiered 20 years ago, Dunye
admitted that she’s excited. “Being at the Castro and just sitting there
and feeling the ridiculous stories and events that have filled that
space just feels great,” she said. “The seats are great, and we add that
modern touch of people speaking from the audience and clapping and
comments, which I think is rare in the cinema house.”

“We
have so few of these theaters left across America,” continued Dunye.
“It’s great to know that this is still alive and that there is a younger
generation going back to the cinema to see and experience community in a
dark room with a great story being told.”